(a) Field of the Invention
This application relates to a system for determining the boundary or “edge” of walls that meet at a rounded corner. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, this application is directed to a device and method for assisting in the painting of walls by establishing the boundary edge and masking the trim pieces that are found at the base of the wall and the ceiling.
(b) Discussion of Known Art
The use of masking tape for protecting the trim pieces at the upper and lower boundaries of the walls in a building, such as a house, is well known. Masking tape is commonly sold in rolls of various widths. A problem associated with using masking material that is sold in rolls is that the rolls will necessarily include straight edges, which makes it difficult for the user to use the tape to follow a rounded corner. To mask the trim pieces of rounded corners, the user typically has to break short sections of tape and apply these to the trim. The problem with this approach is that by using several sections of tape the user creates a mask with many joints, each joint providing an opportunity for seepage of paint onto the trim.
In addition to creating opportunities for seepage of paint, the use of several sections of making tape to round a corner of trim can also be time consuming and frustrating. Masking tape does not always break off in the manner or location needed, and thus often leads to waste of masking tape and time, due to repeated attempts at creating a correctly shaped piece.
There are known devices for masking corners. An example of such a device is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,579,587 to Schnoebelen, Jr., and which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. While the Schnoebelen is a good approach at masking wall corners formed by walls that are at 90 degrees to one another, it does not take into account the fact that as-built walls are rarely as-drawn or as-designed, and thus walls that are truly at 90 degrees to one another represent ideal conditions, and not the more common as-built condition. The dimensional tolerances for most internal components of buildings are flexible enough such that what is actually built (the as “built” structure and its components) is rarely exactly what is shown in the construction drawings. Thus a pair of walls that have been shown in the blueprints as being at 90 degrees to one another may actually be built at 85 degrees, without being out of specification. Thus, a masking device that is made at 90 degrees is likely to not fit properly.
Still further, bull-nose corners are commonly shaped by attaching a bull-nose corner piece that is made from an extruded plastic or thin metal, which is then attached to the walls near the line of intersection of the planes of each wall. The flexibility of the corner piece further accommodates imperfections in the angular relationship of the two wall sections, but further complicates the location of the line where each side of the wall begins. Problems arising from these imperfections are often obviated in new construction by painting all walls the same color. Homeowners who later wish to paint the walls of connecting rooms in different colors are then faced with the problem of locating the midpoint of the arc of the bull-nose and masking the trim at the ends of the bull-nose corner.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a system that aids a person in finding the midpoint of the arc of a bull-nose corner between a pair of walls. Still further, there remains a need for a system that allows a person to use pre-shaped sections to mask trim or surfaces that are adjacent to bull-nose corners.